Synopses & Reviews
The acclaimed author of Rubicon and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic (and incredibly timely) account of the rise of Islam.
No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion—except that they achieved their conquests not over the course of centuries as the Romans did but in a matter of decades. Just like the Greeks during the Persian wars, they overcame seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day—not by standing on the defensive, however, but by hurling themselves against all who lay in their path.
About the Author
Historian Tom Holland is the author of the works of history
Rubicon,
Persian Fire, and
The Forge of Christendom. He reviews regularly for the
TLS, and has adapted Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Virgil for BBC Radio.
Rubicon was short-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize and won the 2004 Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History, and
Persian Fire won the Anglo-Hellenic League’s 2006 Runciman Award.
@holland_tom
www.tom-holland.org
www.doubleday.com